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Check with Morton...

I've never seen "pool" salt.

Are you sure that isn't water softener salt? Plain old NaCl salt-salt if that's all it has on the label. Check for purity and additives, and if OK, many people use it for pickling, or after grinding for . . . . salt.

I presume you "could" cure meat with that salt, but I'd read the Morton's meat curing FAQ first:

Yeah, if you have a "salt" pool. It is a kind of pool that uses a "generator" of metal plates to turn sodium chloride into chlorine for your pool. Some people are hyper sensitive to plain chlorine pools - I developed the sensitivity after a couple of years at our old house - and the chlorine in salt pools is different and doesn't cause allergic reactions.

Our fore fathers did not use nitrates to salt meat with and they all survived.

We quit using nitrated meats about 10 years ago when we figured out that nitrates were one of the things causing dh to get the gout. He has sensitivities to a lot of things and nitrates were right up on the top of the list. Hence we eat no bacon, hot dogs, hams, etc.

We have provisions to can meats in jars instead of salting stuff. I use a tiny bit of sea salt to can with now. I never use regular salt anymore.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.Proverbs 16:9

Yeah, if you have a "salt" pool. It is a kind of pool that uses a "generator" of metal plates to turn sodium chloride into chlorine for your pool. Some people are hyper sensitive to plain chlorine pools - I developed the sensitivity after a couple of years at our old house - and the chlorine in salt pools is different and doesn't cause allergic reactions.

Thanks Kathy. Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing a "chlorine generator" system a few years ago. I also didn't think about those "salt-water pools" that I've heard about in some resorts.

Y'all got me thinking and that sent me looking on my lunch break (hubby brought me a Broccato's Cuban sandwich and crab roll and if you are from Tampa area you know just how gosh darn delicious that is)

Can cured meats be produced without sodium nitrite?

Cured meats by their definition must include sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is the ingredient that gives a product like ham its color and taste. Without sodium nitrite, these products’ shelf life would be shortened substantially.

Some uncured products available today use vegetable-based ingredients like celery juice, which may contain nitrate naturally, to deliver a color and flavor similar to traditionally cured meats. When the sodium nitrate in celery, or other sodium nitrate-containing vegetables, is exposed to certain types of bacteria in the product, the nitrate is converted to sodium nitrite, which results in product characteristics similar to traditionally cured meat products. The amount of sodium nitrite consumed from these types of products versus traditionally cured meat products is virtually the same.

Salting meat without nitrite is seldom performed today. In some undeveloped countries the fish is still heavily salted for preservation. Back fat or any fatty trimmings do not contain myoglobin and can not react with nitrite. For this reason they may be salted only.

San Daniele and Parma Italian dry hams are made without nitrate. In all, a very few products are made or preserved by salting alone.

When salt is added to meat it provides us with the following benefits:
•Adds flavor (feels pleasant when applied between 2-3%).
•Prevents microbial growth.
•Increases water retention, and meat and fat binding.

Salt does not kill bacteria, it simply prevents or slows down their development. To be effective the salt concentration has to be 10% or higher. Salt concentration of 6% prevents Clostridium botulinum spores from becoming toxins though they may become active when smoking at low temperatures. Adding sodium nitrite (Cure #1) eliminates that danger. The two physical reactions that take place during salting are diffusion and water binding, and no chemical reactions are present. Salting is the fastest method of curing as it rapidly removes water from inside of the meat. The salt migrates inside of the meat and the water travels to the outside surface of the meat and simply leaks out. This gives us a double benefit:
•Less water in meat
•More salt in meat

Both factors create less favorable conditions for the development of bacteria. Today the products that will be salted only are pork back fat and some hams that will be air-dried for a long time.

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